Meet the Artist: Hugadino Pt. 1
Q1: As hard as it is to choose favourites, mostly everyone has one! Even if they keep it a secret! Whether it is a favourite deck in Flick, a dinosaur, or even a tasty treat! Anett, please tell us your favourite:
a. Flick Deck / Artist and why?
KennysGifs “birds n bread” deck is my absolute favourite and I instantly unlocked it after installing Flick. I just really love the artist, the artstyle and the silliness.
But in general all the decks are awesome and unique. Gotta collect 'em all!
b. Dinosaur?
I get asked that a lot and I always struggle to answer. If you talk about “real” dinosaurs I’d probably say stegosaurus or micropachycephalosaurus (it’s so tiny I wanna cuddle it).
Regarding my own dinos: Trying to be a good dino mom I don’t have a favourite one (*cough* it’s Chuck *cough*).
c. Tasty treat?
I have a sweet tooth and really love everything my local bakery offers. Especially their Schokostreuselkuchen (crumble cake with vanilla pudding and chocolate glaze).
Q2: Hugadino is uber-popular! Such a massive success! Please tell us how it all started and why dinosaurs.
It started when I had a really bad burnout and art block in early 2023. I used to make realistic pencil drawings and everything that most people consider “real art”, but to get back to myself I wanted to do something completely different and just draw silly characters. Cartoony dinosaurs were perfect for that. Especially since I have always pictured them as cute rather than scary. At the same time I try to show that you can love dinosaurs no matter your age, not just as a child.
When I was younger I was obsessed with dinos and I have always seen them as cute rather than scary. It was a nice extra that I was obsessed with dinos when I was younger and they’re kind of a niche on social media.
Q3: Your delicious ‘Eat My Dino’ Deck is packed with your Hugadino characters, please tell us more about how you came up with ideas for the suits and the theme.
I really love drawing dinos with food. There’s no specific reason. It’s just a lot of fun and looking at them makes me happy. For the suits I decided to divide them into unprocessed food (black) and processed food (red). Sadly I missed the opportunity to use the hearty food for the hearts ;)
Q4: From a hugely popular TikTok channel (@hugadino) to a ravenous Discord community - how do you manage it all?!
Short answer: I don’t, haha. I feel kinda overwhelmed all the time. Many people don’t know that I’m a single person doing this as a full time business. Not only do I need to prepare content for social media and be active on Discord, I also handle my shop and ship everything myself and sometimes work on commissions.
When I started with hugadino I was expecting a small but steady growth. Instead I got my first 20k followers on day 2 and really don’t know what happened. I’m still trying to adjust to the needs of my community as I want to offer them their best hugadino experience.
I know that every creator says this, but my community is the best. They’re all supportive and wholesome. I also couldn’t handle everything without the support of my friends (especially you, lildino) and my boyfriend.
Q5: What last made you belly laugh?
My boyfriend being silly by accident all the time.
Q6: Do you play card games? If so, which is your go-to card game?
Talking about classic card games: Rommé. I learned how to play it when I was a small child and have played it ever since.
Besides that, my younger self was absolutely obsessed with Solitaire on Windows XP.
Q7: Who did you tell first about your Eat My Dino Deck launching in Flick?
My boyfriend and his mom, they’re my biggest supporters!
Q8: When the dinosaurs are sleeping, what do you like to do to chill?
I feel like the dinos are never sleeping, some weeks I don’t get free time at all. But if they do, I really enjoy gaming. Currently I play a lot of Elder Scrolls Online.
Q9: With your deck dripping with deliciousness, do you love to cook or bake? Do you have a special dish? Who would be the best cook out of the dino crew? Possibly, Steve the Cheese!?
I do! I Learned cooking and baking pretty early in life and now I try to have freshly cooked food every day. It’s just difficult sometimes with so much work.
My all time favourite dish (probably because it’s the first thing I learned how to cook on my own) is Tuscan style meatballs filled with feta cheese.
Steve is just stealing food from others as he can’t cook with his small T-Rex arms. The real chef is my triceratops Spencer. He’s the only one I drew as a chef so far, but I wouldn’t trust his food as he’s a menace.
Q10: You have such wholesome and humorous content - what is the funniest joke you have heard lately?
The weather in Germany has been the biggest joke lately.
